Federal lawsuit filed by mother of teen against Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson

The mother of a 14-year old boy enrolled in a Calhoun County Sheriff's Department's scared straight program filed a federal lawsuit today claiming the sheriff and deputies verbally and physically abused him during his first day of the program.

The lawsuit was filed this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by Stacy Brown, on behalf of her son identified only as J.B., against Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson and a deputy identified only by his last name.

The lawsuit claims her son's civil rights were violated. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages against each defendant of $500,000 and punitive damages of $500,000 from each defendant.

According to the lawsuit, Brown voluntarily enrolled her son in the sheriff's department's scared straight program after he got into trouble at school.

After dropping J.B. off for his first day in the program on Feb 4, her son got into a series of confrontations with sheriff's officials during a tour of the jail, according to the lawsuit.

The confrontations included threats and racial slurs by sheriff's officials, according to the lawsuit. It also included J.B. challenging the officers during the confrontations. One official in the jail pushed him, according to the lawsuit.

The incident ended after Amerson grabbed, and according to the lawsuit tried to choke the teen, who by then was seated and handcuffed. That portion of the incident was captured on video tape.

"After the first round of choking, Sheriff Amerson continued to sit closely to J.B. with his arm around him," according to the lawsuit. "J.B. was very nervous and scared, while the Sheriff was very calm and deliberate before the violence ensued. A short time later, a second assault on J.B. occurred."

The lawsuit claims that the force used against J.B. was unreasonable and unjustified.

"J.B. was a child participating in a community service program for troubled teens, not an inmate, though such use of force against an inmate would be unlawful as well under the circumstances," according to the lawsuit.

J.B. challenged the sheriff to unchain him and go into the hallway and "fight like a man," according to the lawsuit.

Amerson brought charges of criminal mischief and harassment against J.B. after the incident.

Amerson had not returned a phone call from The Birmingham News as of 4 p.m. today.

But on Monday, the sheriff's website had a statement about a program for suspended students in the county. The statement does not refer to the incident.The statement reads:

"The Sheriff's Office offers a program for students suspended from schools within the county. The program is intended to give parents an alternative to having their children unsupervised while out on suspension. The activities will be structured in an environment that will educate the student about responsibility, respect, and discipline under the direct supervision of a corrections officer. This is not a "Scared Straight Program" it is better termed as an opportunity for community service. As the child will be required to perform manual labor tasks such as cutting grass and cleaning. In accordance with law the children do not have direct contact with inmates."

Amerson, according to an Associated Press story today, has asked the FBI to review the videotape that shows him using force on a handcuffed juvenile. Amerson says he requested the probe because an independent investigation is needed, and the FBI agreed, AP reported.